Technology: Living-Room Cinema

This may not be the best kind of consumer bulletin for straitened economic times, but be warned: It's time to consider moving the family VCR over and $ making room for another piece of equipment.

Now if movies are a casual family pleasure and everyone is happy renting tapes from the nearest video outlet, there is no immediate threat or sweat. But for people who like to own movies, who bought any of the 35.4 million theatrical films sold on cassette in 1987, who spent any fraction of the $637.2 million raked in by video distributors, a fresh temptation is at...